Cullman Unemployment Jumps Up 1.1%; 422 Jobs Lost

Cullman Unemployment Jumps Up 1.1%; 422 Jobs Lost

Record Number of Alabamians Working; Economy Supporting More Jobs than Ever Before

The Alabama Department of Labor has announced the employment statistics for June 2018 in Cullman County and statewide.

In Cullman, 36,691 people have been determined as employed with 1,603 unemployed in the month of June 2018. That makes for an unemployment rate of 4.2%.

These numbers reveal a substantial uptick in the unemployment rate from the month before. In May 2018, 36,604 people employed with only 1,171 people unemployed (3.1%). This represents 422 jobs lost in one month.

Even with that jump, Cullman remains tied for 2nd in the lowest unemployment categories across Alabama, trailing only Shelby County at 3.7%.

Statewide, the news is rosier.

Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced Friday that the number of people counted as working in Alabama had reached 2,098,377, a record high. Additionally, Alabama’s economy is supporting more jobs than ever before, with employers reporting 2,050,400 positions.

Washington was enthusiastic:

“More Alabamians are employed than we have ever seen. More people are entering the workforce, optimistic that they will find work, and they are finding it. Employers are telling us that they are supporting more positions than ever before. Jobs are available in Alabama, and even more are being announced every day. Alabama is working!”

June employment data measures 2,098,377 employed persons, compared to 2,091,505 in May and 2,073,795 in June 2017. 89,353 people were counted as unemployed, up from 85,589 in and below 93,997 in June 2017. June’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 4.1%, up from May’s rate of 3.9%, and below June 2017’s rate of 4.3%.

Over the year, wage and salary employment increased 23,800, with gains in the professional and business services sector (+7,800), the manufacturing sector (+6,100), and the leisure and hospitality sector (+5,000), among others.

Wage and salary employment increased in June by 7,500. Monthly gains were seen in the professional and business services sector (+5,000), the manufacturing sector (+2,200), and the leisure and hospitality sector (+1,300), among others.

“As we are experiencing job growth, we’re also seeing our wages increase,” continued Washington. “Workers are earning on average more than $30 per week more now than they were last year, and we’ve also seen wages increase in the construction, manufacturing, and professional and business services industries.”

Private sector average weekly wages increased over the year by $30.71, from $783.66 in June 2017 to $814.37 in June 2018.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby County at 3.7%, Elmore, Cullman, and Baldwin Counties at 4.2%, and Marshall County at 4.3%. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are Wilcox County at 11.4%, Clarke County at 9.3%, and Perry County at 9.2%.

Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are Vestavia Hills at 3.3%, Alabaster at 3.5%, and Homewood and Hoover at 3.6%. Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are Prichard and Selma at 8.9%, Anniston at 6.7%, and Bessemer at 6.4%.

Notes:

“Seasonal adjustment” refers to BLS’s practice of anticipating certain trends in the labor force, such as hiring during the holidays or the surge in the labor force when students graduate in the spring and removing their effects to the civilian labor force.

The Current Population (CPS), or the household survey, is conducted by the Census Bureau and identifies members of the workforce and measures how many people are working or looking for work.

The establishment survey, which is conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, surveys employers to measure how many jobs are in the economy. This is also referred to as wage and salary employment.